Water splitters and butter applicators heretofore employed by commercial bakers have employed stationary nozzles dispensing a high velocity water stream to impinge against dough products for forming a split-top on the bread products. Similar systems have been employed for dispensing butter, cinnamon, honey, sugar and other flavored or colored liquids.
Water splitters commercially available for bakery lines are commercially available from Burford Corp. of Maysville, Okla. Typical splitters have incorporated a plurality of stationary nozzles mounted on a support bar extending transversely of and above a conveyor which carried dough in bread pans adjacent the nozzles. Streams of liquid formed straight slits in the top surfaces of dough as the dough was moved along a straight path below the nozzles. A proximity switch initiated liquid flow when the leading edge of a pan reached a specified position.
Heretofore, devices for forming a pattern other than a straight slit extending in a direction longitudinally of the path of conveyor movement have not been commercially successful. Difficulty has been encountered in properly locating the starting and end points of a slit formed by a nozzle carried by an air cylinder and moved transversely of a conveyor in an attempt to form one or more slits extending diagonally across the top surface of a loaf of bread.
A need exists for a splitter capable of forming designs on bakery products, for example, to form a logo, numerals, letters or other indicia on the surface of the product.